It was already above freezing at sunrise this morning, and I expected the trails along the river in Estabrook Park to be very muddy again, so I opted to join the Milwaukee Birders as they visited Lakeshore State Park.
When I first arrived, the lagoon was teeming with greater scaups, and here’s a drake, …
and here’s a hen. I’ve seen them at least once in Estabrook on the Milwaukee River in Estabrook, but they mostly keep to the lake, so I was glad for the chance to see them before they’ve all gone back north.
There were also a few redheads, but they kept farther from shore, and a few goldeneyes, but we’ve seen plenty of them lately. The red-breasted mergansers, on the other hand, let me get a good picture, and we haven’t seen much of them in the park in a while. Plus, they always look amazing.
I had hoped to see some buffleheads, but I didn’t find one until I was north of Bradford Beach on my way back home. At least there is still hope that one might pop in to Estabrook to sample the fine “aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, and mollusks” of the Milwaukee River.
Finally, since it was such a nice day, and it was right on my way, I stopped in at the Shorewood Nature Preserve. By then, however, it was already quite late in the morning, so the place was pretty quiet, but this white-breasted nuthatch was kind enough to dust off its favorite pose for us.
That’s it for sights along the lake for today, so here’s a look at a quartet of common mergansers on the Milwaukee River yesterday.
The forecast is for beautiful weather tomorrow morning, with mild temps, still air, and clear skies, so come on out for our weekly wildlife walk if you’ve got the time. Ebird reports that a belted kingfisher, pine siskin, and a yellow-rumped warbler have been spotted this weekend, so Estabrook Park is firmly atop the leader board of species spotted in Milwaukee County this month. We’ll still meet at 8 am, which is now inexplicably an hour closer to sunrise, so the critters should still be plenty active by then. Keep your fingers crossed that the warm sun today has managed to dry up some of the mud along the river by then.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 